120 Days After Al-Zawahiri Death, Al-Qaeda Has No Leader for the First Time
Who is taking over as the leader of al-Qaeda after the death of former leader Ayman al-Zawahiri? For the first time in the history of the terrorist organization, months have passed without an official leader. Since the American drone attack and the execution of the assassination of Ayman Al-Zawahiri in a balcony in a Kabul neighborhood last August, despite having been more than one name, no leader has yet been appointed to the organization.
Al-Zawahiri’s responsibility
Ahmed Zaghloul, an Egyptian researcher specializing in fundamentalist movements, said al-Qaeda’s delay in announcing a new leader is the responsibility of its former leader, Ayman al-Zawahiri. He did not allow anyone to compete with him for the leadership, but eliminated him and excluded him from the organization, especially names that had been candidates for him following the death of former leader Osama bin Laden. This raises suspicions that these states are in control of the organization.
Saif Al-Adel
Egyptian Mohamed Salah Zeidan, whose nom de guerre is “Saif Al-Adel,” is considered one of the prominent candidates to succeed former leader Ayman Al-Zawahiri. He is known to be sixty years old and has military and organizational experience.
He is considered one of the oldest fighters in the Al-Qaeda terrorist organization and was classified by the US Federal Bureau of Investigation as one of the most wanted terrorists in the world with a huge financial reward. Since Saif Al-Adel settled in Iran in 2001, he has not left Iran. However, the organization continued to claim that he is a prisoner inside Iran, until recently, when Saif Al-Adel admitted in a letter to his second nom, Aber Sabeel, that his presence in Iran was based on an alliance of interests; In 2014, a document emerged that identified the candidates to succeed al-Zawahiri. The document included Abu al-Khair al-Masri, Abu Mohammed al-Masri, Saif al-Adel, and Abu Basir al-Wuhayshi; “The change to this document, however, is that only Saif al-Adel is still alive from these names, but that does not mean the matter is settled for him, as he lives in Iran.”
Taliban recommendation
Observers believe there is a high probability that a real leader of the organization exists, but at the request of the Taliban has not been made public, especially since the old leader has not been found yet, according to Zabiullah Mujahid, a Taliban spokesman. The Taliban are also accused before the international community of providing a safe haven for Al-Qaeda, and announcing the new leader exposes the Taliban to greater crises with the international community.
Ahmed Zaghloul, an Egyptian researcher, confirmed that Al-Qaeda has never been without a legitimate leader – for them this is not permissible. He added that the organizations’ doctrine cannot hide the news of the killing of any leader, but he did not rule out the presence of a person temporarily managing the organization, asserting that there is a crisis on the level of the two largest terrorist organizations, Al-Qaeda and ISIS; Both now have no actual leader, and Al Qaeda fears appointing an unagreed leader – causing the branches to split and go to ISIS, and some are even thinking of agreeing on a leader who can manage both terrorist organizations.
